The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly called FAFSA, is considered a must for college students. It helps determine the eligibility of the student to receive financial assistance with their education. The FAFSA must be completed before the school can offer any type of award package. This may include grants, loans, work study programs, and scholarship money.
Various types of information will be collected on the FAFSA. Personal informatidon such as social security number, date of birth, and contact information is required. Expect to answer questions about income, living arrangements, school enrollment, education level and the like.
Be aware that if you are below 21 years of age, the details would be relevant to your parents’ income. However, there could be anomalies to this procedure. It is advisable to contact a financial assistance official or to visit the FAFSA website to check if you are eligible.
To help with answering the questions, you’d need copies of either your income tax returns or of your parents, and perhaps also details about any bank accounts that generate interest income.
Wherever necessary you may choose to make corrections. But it is much better if you are aware of all details and know the correct answers. To this end, ensure that all the details and related documents are ready for you to cross check. Most importantly, make it a point that you submit the application before the deadline, which can differ for your school from that of the Government. It is best to keep a check on this.
The application can be submitted in either of two ways. First is by filling in the form and sending by post. Second option is to submit online. If you choose the latter, you will need to create an account, after which you will be given access to an auto-generated PIN. You can choose to access this PIN either online or get it posted to you. You don’t necessarily have to fill the form in one go. You can save information that you have filled and come back to proceed further. To acknowledge your application submission you will receive a unique reference number and an email confirming the receipt of the application.
The information provided on the FAFSA will calculate an estimated family contribution, commonly referred to as EFT. If the EFT is 0, you are not expected to have to pay for a portion of tuition costs. However, if the EFT is above 0 then you are responsible for paying some towards your education. Even if the student is not eligible for state or federal grants the FAFSA should still be completed. This helps to ensure that the student can obtain loans, work study, and apply for scholarships.
Once the FAFSA results are declared, the school will contact the student if any further details are required to support the application, such as tax returns copy, W-2, or any other financial or personal details. This procedure is known as verification which is not done for all students. Once this procedure has finished, the student can be granted financial assistance.